Part 2: Islamization of Africa. September 22 North African Conquest & Empire Building: North Africa, Abyssinia and the Almoravids

Transcription

1 Part 2: Islamization of Africa September 22 North African Conquest & Empire Building: North Africa, Abyssinia and the Almoravids

2 Spread of Islam Into Africa:7th-19th C. Almoravids 11 th C. 7 th -15 th centuries Arab and Swahili traders spread Islam: 8th- 19th centuries C.E.

3 Islam in North Africa and Ethiopia Story of spread of Islam into North Africa and Ethiopia usually told as one of armies sweeping across land, establishing Caliphates - dynasties rapidly falling to more powerful armies - took the names of family leaders (eg Umayyads, Abbassids, Fatimids, Almoravids ) - mostly about movement of Arabs, not of Islam per se - most sunni regimes, Fatimids (Egypt) Shia - conquest is not necessarily conversion: describes government not people

4 Islam in North Africa and Ethiopia

5 Islam in North Africa and Ethiopia Islamic expansion not explained or reflected in Arab conquests: - becoming Muslim is process - varies with ethnic, cultural, economic, political context (as we saw in East Africa) - our vision shaped by available/exploitable sources (eg archaeological, travellers accounts, material culture and so on) - North African/Horn studies dominated by textual sources, with political/religious bias and focus

6 Islam in North Africa aqand Ethiopia Complicating Robinson s gateway approach by looking at three models of Islamization: Abyssina (Ethiopia) special relationship with Muslims from Mohamed s time North Africa combination conquest and integration with Berber economics, culture, religion Almoravids rise of religious movement similar to later tariqa ; more about networking than conquest per se

7 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Islam had special relationship with Horn and Christian kingdom Aksum: -prior to hijra, Mohamed s followers sought refuge with Christian King Aksum [see Modern Map Ethiopia, below] - returned after 622, bearing gifts, support from King: consolidated relationship that protected Christians from future jihad - important base for future commercial, scholarly, cultural relations - Mohamed married returning refugee whose husband converted to Christianity in Aksum symbolic and real interconnectedness

8 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Elsewhere (eg East Africa, Sahara) networks primarily trade-based: - in Horn settlements based on both agricultural and commerce, facilitated by access to Hijaz, Yemen, Red Sea trade - spread quickly from coastal regions to interior where Christian kingdom of Abyssinia located -By 16 th c, small Muslim kingdoms emerging in coastal hinterland, Muslim families moving into Christian communities - Muslims of all beliefs spread out along shores of Red Sea proximity to Mecca supported growth Islam

9 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) - Clerics trained in law and theology (many at University in Cairo) supported process in some instances, proselytized among local Christians (not often the case in Africa) - Gradually, coastal areas dominated by Muslims - Christian kingdom cut off from direct contact with Red Sea - Muslim importance, wealth and power increased [see Robinson, Map 1 p.29]

10 Ancient Kingdoms of Christians (Ethiopian Highlands) and Muslims (Coastal) Also note southern Galles (Oromo) Warriors of the Faith (North Africa) Berbers not Arabs

11 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) - Muslim communities grew in number in Christian interior: spoke same languages, shared culture with Christian neighbours - Because Christian state protected, Muslims external to Caliphate politics (rise and fall of major Islamic states) - main external influence Egypt: relations both with Christians ( Copts ) and the succeeding Islamic states controlling Cairo (Fatimids, Mamluks, Ottomans ) - Horn received scholars, clerics both Christian, Muslim - Process of Islamization [quoting Robinson]: was a local, internal process by and large a successful one. [for more information, see Robinson s Ethiopia case study]

12 Learning of the Book: Egypt and Ethiopia

13 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Successful but not uncomplicated: -by late 14 th early 15 th centuries, divisions emerged among Muslims as to appropriate relations with Christian kingdom of Ethiopia: - attempt to dominate and make region into dar al-islam? - continue to co-exist, acknowledging Christian power? - Emir of Harar often in conflict of larger Islamic state (Adal) - early 16 th C, became capital - issues not religious per se but political: only to some extent about enduring presence Christian power, more about rejecting competing power

14 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Old Town Harar Modern Map Ethiopia showing Harar and Ancient Axum) Street in Old Harar

15 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) - Early 16 th century Ethiopian king requested assistance of Portuguese (now established on East African coast) against Muslim principalities - But -- recognized danger of them as permanent allies, required them to leave - Left open challenge to Islamic polities; Muslim leaders (especially Emir of Harar) took up challenge s, Portuguese recalled to support Christian Ethiopians for last time

16 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Mid-to-late1500s: series battles between Christian Ethiopian state and Harar - leaders of each were killed on different occasions; capital cities sacked; - eg Harar burned by Abyssinians - eg Muslims conquered Abyssina, destroying churches, documents, taking women, children into slavery; many Christians converted - story of woman who convinced Emir of Harar (Nur ibn Mujahid) to revenge death of former husband by giving herself to him as wife - took title Commander of the Faithful, built wall around city: 4 meters high, 5 gates still visible - ultimately defeated but Emperor of Ethiopia also killed in battle

17 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Old Town of Harar encircled by Nur s fortifications

18 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) One of Five Gates leading to Old City Street to market (old wall visible on right)

19 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Same time, Muslims and Christians faced invasions from southern Oromo [Galla] peoples: - By 1567, taking over Harari lands, limiting power of Emir to city - Became insignificant principality rather than powerful sultanate: Inside their walls the Hararis maintained their own religion, language and commercial life, but outside they had lost all influence, the Oromo blocking the life-giving trade with Zeila [to the Red Sea and ultimately, Indian Ocean]. The walls built by Emir Nur as a defence against the Ethiopians were now Harar's sole protection against the Oromo. - Many Oromo later became Muslim but political conflict continued to dominate region

20 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) - Successor Emirs worked to attract Oromo-controlled commerce back to city limited success - - internally constant series coups and counter-coups between different Emirs - continued occasional attacks on Ethiopia in alliance with other enemies of state, usually unsuccessful - Harar s Emirs negotiated certain autonomy for region that persisted until mid-to-late 19 th C

21 Islam in Ethiopia ( the Horn ) Significance of Gateway through the Horn : - role of Indian Ocean/Red Sea Network that also played into East Africa important to economy of Muslim sultanates but special relationship with Mohamed followers and Christian Aksum King key factor in shaping subsequent relations, settlements - process by which region became largely Muslim not principally nor primarily commercial - led to different relationship with indigenous peoples: Muslims lived among Christians, invited scholars, teachers, judges into community - attempts to either dominate or collaborate with Ethiopian Highlands state shaped internal Muslim politics -role of central city state Harar -- own interests, radical Emirs often at odds with larger Islamic state, interests

22 Islam in North Africa

23 Islam and North Africa Across North Africa, what unifies historical study is combination early Arab conquest, gradual attraction Berbers to both Arab military and Islamic religion, and unevenness of sources - referencing 1999 article islamic Settlement in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (J L Boone, N L Benco) in Annual Review of Anthropology - article emphasizing limitations of archaeological work: - few excavations - emphasis on Roman rather than Islamic era - predominance of French academic influence/politics

24 Islam and North Africa Argues extant work shaped by interest in: - Trans-Saharan trade (commodities, markets, change-over-time) - patterns Arab settlement (not always shaped by trade, also by agricultural interests) So: one finds that where trade is major interest, settlement oriented to major commercial markets; otherwise scattered well into hinterland

25 Islam and North Africa Market orientation: -markets and trade in hands of indigenous Berbers - archaeology can trace where Arabs settled vis-à-vis Berber quarters (architecture, tools, household utensils, presence of Mosques etc) - can trace cultural exchange (with respect to material culture) - can trace process of Islamization into Berber areas through building mosques - limited evidence to date shows process mixed with no clear pattern of cause

26 Islam and North Africa Non-muslim Berbers continued to co-exist, especially in interior (Mountains, desert) Muslim Berbers did not always adapt fully to religion (eg Sanhaja, below), retaining loyalty to animist gods, transposing ritual of worship onto Islamic saints Muslim Berbers also resisted full Arabization, for example using local shrine architecture for Muslim saints, retaining Berber as language, dress, custom (music, literature, crafts etc) Ibn Battuta: Berber, qadi, experienced many forms of Islam in travels from formal official Islam of cities to ascetics, marabouts of countryside, centrality of tombs and associated medresa s

27 Islam and North Africa Not all Arab conquests sought out commercial cities: - especially in Morocco and Algeria, found sites where Arab conquerors (more likely the settlers who followed in the wake of conquest) colonized hinterland and interior - introduced new agricultural interests: replaced Berber/coastal culture of tree-agriculture (olives, citrus fruits) with grain growing, small-scale pastoralism of sheep, goats: modified Bedouin lifestyle - invited graduate integration, Berberization of Arab communities and Islamization of Berber neighbours

28 Islam and North Africa Only suggestive of alternative understanding of spread of Islam but more consistent with critical factor than conquest/conflict theory: - apart from initial moves of Arabs from Arabian peninsula into North Africa, most so-called Islamic conquest was carried out, physically, by Berber warriors - another part of process : Berbers attracted by rewards of Arab armies and hierarchy - not required to totally relinquish aspects of culture while benefitting from new political masters - emergence of Almoravids is itself example of this process in context of Saharan tribes (below)

29 Islam and North Africa Typical example North African warrior: Arab? Or Berber?

30 Warriors of the Faith (North Africa) Berbers not Arabs

31 Tariq ibn Ziyad Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711 under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I.

32 Islam and North Africa Problem: still limited in interpretation - archaeology can show patterns, help describe - less successful in answering historians question: why? - but approach brings understanding of Islamization of North Africa more in line with how we re seeking to understand it elsewhere in Africa (eg East, West, South) - not meant to ignore/reject traditional emphasis on Caliphate politics but to question further how helpful it is in social and cultural terms - suggest we are trying to Africanize the approach to Islam in North Africa (and the Horn) that has hitherto remained closely tied to Middle Eastern perspectives

33 Islam and North Africa Tunisia Local Berber Shrine (above) Shrine of Sidi Mhammed (right)

34 Islam and North Africa Almoravids Story of the Almoravids well known both to European and African history: - in Europe, succeeded Umayyid dynasty in Spain (11 th C.), known as Moors, left scholarly and architectural legacy - in North Africa, especially Morocco, created capital out of Marrakesh, made it centre of scholarship, Koutoubia Mosque world reknown - in Africa, understood as origin of Islamization of West Africa ( Conquest of Ghana, see next day Sahara, West Africa )

35 Islam and North Africa Almoravids Koutoubia Mosque, Marrakesh (Morocco)

36 Islam and North Africa 11 th Century: - Saharan Sanhaja leader (Berber) made the hajj - on return, visited with Islamic scholar in Ifriqiyya (Tunisia) - realized that his people were not good Muslims - returned to Sahara with cleric from Morocco (Abd Allah ibn Yasin) to help his people turn from pre-islamic habits and fully embrace Islam - some followed him, the Lamtuna clan resisted, rejected him - returned to North Africa for advice

37 Islam and North Africa Tunisia Advice: return to the Sahara and launch jihad - returned: offered resisters opportunity to fully convert, recognize him as leader - sought retreat [sometimes called ribat ] with followers - returned to desert and successfully defeated opposing tribes - ultimately, launched holy war into West Africa and into Spain [see also short account in Additional Readings ]

38

39 Yusuf ibn Tashfin Cousin of initial Almoravid Leader, third Emir of Almoravid empire in North Africa and Al- Andalus (Moorish Iberia/Spain).

40 Islam and North Africa Story fits with spread of Islam into North/West Africa by the sword : for many years, not challenged - H J Fisher ( additional reading ) and subsequently, others argued against paradigm with respect to specific aspects of Almoravid Story - here, Fisher questions obsession with ribat as physical place and/or holy war - article reveals how historians in the field have approached history - ability to disagree derives from showing how others have (mis)used textual documentation

41 Islam and North Africa Not local chronicles (as in East, West Africa) but accounts by Arab geographers (eg Ibn Battuta) and other scholars (such as those referred to in Islam: empire of faith video) - Ibn Battuta exception: most never visited places about which they wrote - Arab sources mostly compiled, therefore as problematic as archaeological sites where evidence has been spread through several temporal strata - Scholar interpreting from 12 th century will read texts from earlier centuries different from scholar writing in 14 th or 15 th centuries

42 Islam and North Africa These observations central to Fisher s critiqu of extant interpretations: - looks at several issues and historians approaches (both contemporary and modern), in each case showing weaknesses - even suggests that Paulo Farias somewhat radical analysis is still constrained by traditional paradigm - critical argument: ribat was neither a place nor a war it was a religious network - as argument, important: suggests a different process by which islam became entrenched in Sahara (and by extension), West Africa

43 Islam and North Africa His argument is largely linguistic (that is, he looks at how earlier Arab writers, writing at time of Almoravids, use the term ribat) - concludes that it is only later writers who interpret term as place or war and that these interpretations reflect who they are and political situation when they re writing NOT what 11 th century writers were saying - if right, this is earliest suggestion that Islam is spread through religious network (leader, scholarly legitimacy, followers, centres of learning) that will later become the norm : tariqa - such networks later carry the name of their leade: in this case, those of the ribat indirectly did exactly that -- Almroavids

44 Islam and North Africa Fisher does not deny the role of conflict: - argues it is primarily about leadership and competing power between Saharan clans/tribes - in this case Sanhaja against Zenata - competing clans among Sanhaja tribes - under Ibn al-yasin, one of those tribes claimed the right to be truly Muslim

45 Conclusion Conclusions: will use Fisher s conclusions (though not in his order) to speak to Abyssinia, North Africa and Almoravids (1) Hajj used to integrate centre and periphery (eg travels of Ibn al- Yasin and consequences for Western Sahara/Africa) but Fisher points out that it was clear that for those who were of the centre (Mecca, Cairo perhaps even Ifriqiyya), Sahara and regions beyond were both physically and conceptually distant fantastic embroidery shown in article but call for caution about what remains major source of information about all of North/West (and even the Horn of Africa, given orthodox perspective on region) needs to be heeded.

46 Islam and North Africa (2) Prototypes in Islamic History: Fisher draws our attention to both the physical/real re-enactment of Islamic history and the motif of said reenactment - Video Islam: empire of faith showed how real history of birth of Islam became enshrined in ritual of being Muslim (the hajj etc) - Fisher reminds us that in all subsequent histories of societies becoming Muslim we see both: real attempts to re-enact (eg Usman dan Fodio who we will meet in Case Study of Sokoto Caliphate) and literary motifs -- those who wish to present history in acceptable Islamic terms to their audience - both real and reflective endeavors pose problems for historians

47 Islam and North Africa Here, I have suggested that role of paradigm Islamic conquest by sword accepted interpretation of North/West Africa has shaped unquestioning acceptance of Almoravid Story to date Fisher addressed one aspect of that story: the ribat, arguing for its derivation from the hijrah part of the traditional story of Islam Point: we need to keep both observations in mind when interpreting all sources about Islamization in North/West Africa

48 Islam and North Africa (3) Tendency to overemphasize military action in story of Islamization. - follows from above: Fisher refers to West Africa; more recent article allows us to extend analysis to North Africa) - Fisher identifies another factor shaping modern historiography: politics - as in real past, our contemporary profession reflects politics - he notes Nigerian scholar who argues for complete dismissal of Arabic sources (and subsequent scholarship based on them)

49 Islam and North Africa (4) Fisher s first point is last but not least: The pattern of events described in this paper [article] is, if stripped to the bare essentials, a prototypical model of innumerable such interventions in the history of black Africa, up to and including today. This is a concept that we need to keep in mind throughout the course what does he mean, and why is it so significant?